career
When employees secretly work from the beach
Some people like to move their home office to the seaside – without informing their employer
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No more vacation, but still longing for the sea? Some people then opt for an interim solution, the trend is called Quiet Vacation. It sounds tempting, but it has its pitfalls.
Anyone who has to work while everyone else is on vacation tends to get down on their luck. Or they secretly move their work location to the beach instead of using up more vacation days for a break by the sea. According to an American study, this trend is particularly prevalent among A vacation that is becoming increasingly popular among millennials is called a quiet vacation. According to the survey of 1,170 working Americans, 40 percent of millennials have already done this, and the trend is rising.
There are many different ways to fulfill the dream of being on the beach during working hours. People usually do the bare minimum from their vacation spot, i.e. work to rule, and spend the rest of their paid time relaxing and enjoying their not-quite-legal vacation. The smorgasbord of cheats ranges from mouse movements to keep the status on messaging apps “active” while leisurely sipping cocktails to sending work messages outside of working hours to indicate overtime.
Is a quiet vacation a good idea?
What may at first sound like a minor offence can really destroy any trace of holiday spirit for employees. Anyone caught on holiday without a word can not only be fired, but in the worst case scenario, face a fine. This has less to do with the place of work than with the pretense of working. Anyone who often doesn’t actually work during working hours is actually committing a crime. Lawyer Nicole Mutschke says in an interview with RTL: “This is not only a breach of duty within the scope of the employment relationship, but can even be time fraud and thus a criminal offense.”
It is therefore better to simply request the urgently needed time off. If you have no vacation days left, you also have the option of requesting unpaid leave. However, it is up to the employer to decide whether to approve this. A clear separation between vacation and work also has advantages from a psychological point of view. Several studies show that mixing work and leisure time can lead to exhaustion, chronic stress and difficulty concentrating and sleeping. Sitting by the sea with your laptop may sound more tempting than it is.